Share this:

Barber Ja’Mal Gilmore talks to Jay Ferracone this month during his haircut at the Brooklyn Barber Academy in Boulder. Gilmore spoke to the Camera this month about living under a perpetual white gaze in Boulder.

Brooklyn Barber Academy in Boulder and Colorado Tech Shop in Longmont will be among the winners of the inaugural Governor’s Minority Business Awards honored at the 2019 Advance Colorado Procurement Expo luncheon Thursday at McNichols Civic Center.

The awards are divided into four small business types: micro, small, medium and large, and the state into four regions. Nominees were rated on several criteria, including how they demonstrate diversity in their hiring practices, effectiveness at engaging community resources, job creation and retention and contributions back to their community.

Colorado Tech Shop is being honored in the small category. The business at 1500 Kansas Ave., Building 4, Unit C, provides “low volume mechanical, electrical and prototyping design services all the way up to full turn-key services and life cycle management,” according to its website.

Award recipients will receive a complimentary training of their choice from the Colorado Small Business Development Center network, a 30-second promo video recording, recognition by a governor’s office representative during the luncheon, an exhibit table at the expo to create access to potential procurement opportunities, according to a news release.